Protective device for a basin

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a protective device for basins or the like preferably having a quadratic or rectangular shape.

[4 1 Sept. 9, 1975 United States Patent [1 1 Erlandsson et a1.

[ PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A BASIN Jacob et al.......... 4/l72.14 4/172.l4 4/l72.14 4/l72.l4 4/172.14

8/1959 McGuire.......... 2/1962 Karasiewicz 10/1966 Kleinbard et al.

[75] Inventors: Leif Urban Erlandsson, Huddinge;

Lennart Roland Alsenhag, Sollentuna, both of Sweden 2/1969 Bailey et al.

[73] Assignee: P001 Guard Inc. A.B., Stockholm,

Sweden 2/1970 Regan et al......

3/1970 Broadman..........................

22 Filed: July 25, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 382,324

Primary ExaminerHenry K. Artis Attorney, Agent, or FirmUlle C. Linton ABSTRACT mm N 2 M WW2 T H Wmh "c r. Na 6 "Us an WM k UmF The present invention relates to a protective device for basins or the like preferably having a quadratic or rectangular shape.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 2,754,899 7/1956 Karobonik et 4/l72.l4

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A BASIN Hitherto a number of drowning-accidents have occurred each year because basins of different kinds and preferably so called swimming pools" or swimming ponds lack basic protective devices in the shape of a fence arranged around the same or some form of a cover. However, it has been found that fences are generally not sufficient, partly because gates or the like are not always closed properly and partly because that especially children easily climb the fence and thereby get admission to the basin area. Thus, the only reliable protection is a net or a tarpaulin that is tight-- ened over the basin and secured in such a manner that one or several persons and even animals may step onto the protection without any risks from drowning may arise. The protective device should not be so easily removed that children or unwarrented persons may uncover the basin without any responsible attendant being available.

The above mentioned and other drawbacks are effectively eliminated by the protective device according to the present invention, which for this purpose has the characteristics disclosed in the following claims. Furthermore, the invention offers the advantage that the heat emission from the water in the basin to the ambient air is reduced which in turn leads to a less expensive heating of the basin and also permits it to be used during the winter season. Further advantages and objects of the invention will appear from the following description.

In the following an examplary embodiment of the protective device according to the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a swimming pool provided with the protective device according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a piston means included in the protective device,

FIG. 3 is a section through a piston means similar to that in FIG. 2 but having a locking means shown more in detail,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the suspensionand sliding device for the protective net or cover, 7

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, partly in section, of an alternate locking means for the protective device and FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 but with the locking means in a different position.

Reference numeral 1 designates as a whole the basin, that is to be covered in an operative position by the protective device in form of a protective net or a cover 2. The protective net or cover will in the following description generally be referred to as the cover 2. In cases where the cover 2 comprises a net it must be of so fine a mesh that an infant may not step through it and get caught in the net but be permitted to freely walk on the same and as a rule the meshes should be so fine that smaller animals do not fall down between the meshes and thereby cause contamination of the water present in the basin. Thus, preferably the cover comprises a cloth or a tarpaulin, which in addition to protecting from even very small animals, also reduces the heat emission from the water to the ambient air, as previously mentioned. In the operative position of the cover 2, where it completely covers the basin, the cover is by means of a frictional joint secured to rails 3 extending at a distance from each other and transverse to the basin 1 and said rails are at each end thereof proi vided with a device shaped as a ball journalled runner 4 or a similar means, whereby the runners are guided along the basin edge in a profiled rail 5. One end 6 of the cover is secured to one short edge of the basin and the other free end thereof is preferably provided with a more rugged rail 7, which in the operative position of the cover sealingly engages the basin edge.

To adjust the cover 2 between the operative and the inoperative positions thereof a tube 9 is preferably provided along each long side of the basin substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the cover 2, said tube serving as a cylinder for a piston 8 and being at each end thereof provided with an end portion 10 which in turn includes a pipe socket 11 for the inlet and outlet of a fluidum, preferably consisting of water, and especially the water normally flowing from the purification assembly of the basin in a manner-to be described in the following, and includes a passing through in the gable portion 12 thereof for a rope 13 or a corresponding means transferring the force from the piston 8 to the foremost of the rails 3. To accomplish this the rope is secured to the piston 8 by means of a screw 14 and also to the foremost of the rails 3, in manner not more fully defined. It may be noted that strand 13' is secured between one end of the piston 8 and the foremost rail 3 and extends in the closing direction of the cover and a second strand 13" is secured between the other end of the piston 8 and the same rail 3 as the first strand 13 but extends in the opening direction of the cover 'in such a manner that the piston 8 and the front rail 7 move in different directions, which is accomplished by the rope 13 running over' one or more pully wheels 15. To adjust the piston 8 and thereby also the cover 2 the pipe sockets 11 are connected to a control valve 18 by means of pipe lines 16, 17, said valve at the same time serving as a shut-off valve between the basin and the purification assembly (not shown) connected to the same. The value 18 is provided with a handle 19 which is preferably easily removable and optionally shaped as a key to prevent unwarrented persons from operating the valve. The handle 19 may be rotated in such a manner that it affects the valve in four different positions, whereby, for example, in position I the water circulation between the basin and the purification assembly is totally closed, position II defines the normal position where water circulates between the basin and the purification assembly in a cycle, in position III the water is led into the pipes 16, 17 in the opening direction of the cover. Optionally, a further position V may be provided in which the different lines are connected in such a manner that the cover may be manually operated which is facilitated by the rails 3 sliding very easily along the profiled rail 5. The piston 8 may, as is best seen in FIG. 3, be lockable preferably at the end, correspending to the operative closed position of the cover.

movable in a cylinder 27. The piston 28 is operated by a spring 30, tending to maintain the piston in a pushed in position and in a fixed angular position, both of said positions defining the operative locking positions. For this purpose the spring 30 is so shaped that it acts as a torsion spring as well as a compression spring. A locking element 31 co-operating with the shackle 25 is mounted at the lower edge of the piston 29, and said locking element also defines a support for the spring 30. The locking element is provided with an oblique surface 32 normally directed towarads the shackle in such a manner that the shackle may push the piston upwardly against the action of the spring 30, and thereafter the spring 30 automatically pushes the piston downwardly to the locking position thereof. To release the locking means the handle 19 for the valve is used,

whereby said handle is moved down into a recess 33 at the top surface of the piston and thereafter the handle is rotated in the direction of the arrow 34 against the action of the spring 30 to the position illustrated in FIG. 6. When the rail 7 and consequently also the shackle 25 have left the lock by the opening of the cover the piston 28 and the locking element 31 return to the position shown in FIG. 5.

The function of the device will be further described in connection with a work operation and the part of the operation cycle that affects the cover in the closing direction, is selected i.e. when the handle 19 of the valve 18 is in the position defined above by IV. Water is led from the purification assembly under pressure to the valve 18 through the pipe 23 and is distributed by the valve into pipes 16 and operates the piston 8 in a direction that is opposite to the closing direction of the cover 2. Thereby, the piston 8 presses out the water in front of the piston seen in the direction of movement thereof through pipe 17 and the water may thereafter be fed into the basin. By the movement of the piston in the described manner the rope 13 by aid of the strand 13' running over the pulley wheels 15, pulls the foremost of the rails 3 and thereby consequently also the cover 2 in the closing direction. When the piston 8 has reached its end position the locking catch 21 snaps into the groove 22 and thereby automatically locks the cover in the fully closed operative position thereof. When the cover is to be opened the handle 19 is repositioned to position III and ina manner similar to the closing operation the piston is affected by the water flowing from the purification assembly. It should be noted that the locking catch automatically raises from the locking position thereof to a releasing position by designing the locking catch 21 as a piston having a surface 24 affected by the pressure present in the pipe line system before the piston 8 is permitted to move. It is obvious that the cover may be stopped in any position for example in cases where it is desired that only a portion of the basin will be available for bath or some other purpose. By using pure water for the adjustment of the cover no greater demands for sealing means prevail since from pollution or cost aspects it is of no greater importance if any water leaks out into the surroundings.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the above description and to the embodiment shown in the drawing but may be varied in several ways within the scope of the following claims.

Thus, instead of using water as the hydraulic liquid another suitable liquid may be used or the adjustment of the .cover may be accomplished in a pneumatical way, whereby, however, the adjustment units should be modified in .the required manner. Even an electrical operationmay be contemplated either by means of an electriemotor, by means of rope pullies or corresponding means driving the rope 13 or by means of a rotating threaded screw transferring the rotational movement into a longitudinal movement in a manner known per se. The rails 3 run so easily in the profiled rails 5 by the ball journalled runners 4 that a pure manual operation may be contemplated either by means of a crank mechanism or thesimilar or by simply manually pulling the front rail 7 in the desired direction. However, in the latter mentioned cases a special catch or locking means must be provided, for example such a means as described above with reference to FIGS. 56, in order to ensure sufficient reliability. In most cases, however, the embodiment shown in the drawing and described with reference to the same, is preferred.

We claim:

1. A protective device'for basins preferably having a quardratic or rectangular shape, comprising profiled parallel rails, tow rails extending laterally of said profiled rails', runners carried by said tow rails and running in said profiled rails, a flexible cover connected to said tow rails, tubes being mounted substantially parallel to said profiled rails, pistons slideably mounted in said tubes, ropes, each having two strands, each connected to an opposite end of one of said pistons and connected to one of said tow rails at one end of said cover, and means for moving said pistons in opposite directions to the movement of said one of said tow rails.

2. A protective device as claimed in claim 1 including pulleys having said strands running therearound and positioned for guiding said strands.

3. A protective device as claimed in claim 1 including pipe sockets connected at each end of said tubes and having gable portions with said strands extending therethrough and said moving means being means for supplying pressurized media to the sockets at the same ends of said tubes at a time.

4. A protectivedevice as claimed in claim 3 including a valve in said moving means and a handle detachably connected to said valve for operating .the same to supply said pressurized media to the sockets at the same ends of said tubes at a time.

5. A'protective device as claimed in claim 1 including automatically operating means for releasably locking said cover in an extended position.

6. A protective device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said locking means includes, catches slideably mounted through said tubes, each of said pistons having a groove and springs biassing said catches inwardly of said tubes whereby said catches can at times engage said piston groovesl 7. A protective device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said catches are each of a piston configuration with the piston groove engaging end thereof exposed to the pressurized media in its tube for at times being moved by said media automatically from its corresponding piston groove.

8. A protective device as claimed in claim 7 including a shackle attached to said one of said tow rails and a fixedly mounted locking means positioned for at times receiving and detachably retaining said shackle with said cover in its extended position.

11. A protective device as claimed in claim 10 wherein a handle is detachably connected to said locking piston whereby said handle and thus said locking element can at times be rotated relative to said shackle and released therefrom.

12. A protective device as claimed in claim 9 wherein said spring consists of a combined compression and torsion spring. 

1. A protective device for basins preferably having a quardratic or rectangular shape, comprising profiled parallel rails, tow rails extending laterally of said profiled rails, runners carried by said tow rails and running in said profiled rails, a flexible cover connected to said tow rails, tubes being mounted substantially parallel to said profiled rails, pistons slideably mounted in said tubes, ropes, each having two strands, each connected to an opposite end of one of said pistons and connected to one of said tow rails at one end of said cover, and means for moving said pistons in opposite directions to the movement of said one of said tow rails.
 2. A protective device as claimed in claim 1 including pulleys having said strands running therearound and positioned for guiding said strands.
 3. A protective device as claimed in claim 1 including pipe sockets connected at each end of said tubes and having gable portions with said strands extending therethrough and said moving means being means for supplying pressurized media to the sockets at the same ends of said tubes at a time.
 4. A protective device as claimed in claim 3 including a valve in said moving means and a handle detachably connected to said valve for operating the same to supply said pressurized media to the sockets at the same ends of said tubes at a time.
 5. A protective device as claimed in claim 1 including automatically operating means for releasably locking said cover in an extended position.
 6. A protective device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said locking means includes, catches slideably mounted through said tubes, each of said pistons having a groove and springs biassing said catches inwardly of said tubes whereby said catches can at times engage said piston grooves.
 7. A protective device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said catches are each of a piston configuration with the piston groove engaging end thereof exposed to the pressurized media in its tube for at times being moved by said media automatically from its corresponding piston groove.
 8. A protective device as claimed in claim 7 including a shackle attached to said one of said tow rails and a fixedly mounted locking means positioned for at times receiving and detachably retaining said shackle with said cover in its extended position.
 9. A protective device as claimed in claim 8 wherein said locking means includes a slideably mounted piston having a locking element positioned for at times detachably retaining said shackle, and a spring biassing said piston for rotatably and longitudinal movement.
 10. A protective device as claimed in claim 9 wherein said locking element has an oblique surface positioned for sliding over said shackle to automatically retain said shackle at times in the locking position.
 11. A protective device as claimed in claim 10 wherein a handle is detachably connected to said locking piston whereby said handle and thus said locking element can at times be rotated relative to said shackle and released therefrom.
 12. A protective device as claimed in claim 9 wherein said spring consists of a combined compression and torsion spring. 